The Role of Women in the Workforce in Canada

Challenges and Opportunities

Juracy Américo de Oliveira Filho

ILAC - International Language Academy of Canada
Mareen Sachdeva

2024-09-29

Agenda/Overview

  • Key topics:
    • The Gender Pay Gap
    • Underrepresentation in Leadership
    • Unequal Division of Unpaid Labor
    • Addressing Counter-Arguments
    • Rebuttals: Economic Benefits & Cultural Shifts
    • The Future: A Collective Effort
    • References
    • Q&A

Introduction

Figure 1:
The Gender Gap

Note. The illustration effectively highlights the persistent disparity in wages between men and women in the workforce [Infographic]. From Lipman, J. (2015). Opinion | let’s expose the gender pay gap. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/opinion/lets-expose-the-gender-pay-gap.html © 2024 The New York Times Company.

Figure 2:
Gap in average

Note. Gap in Average hourly wage relative to Canadian-born men, by group of women, 2007 to 2008 and 20221 to 2022. From Intersectional Gender Wage Gap in Canada, 2007 to 2022. (2023). 11. © 2024.

The Gender Pay Gap

  • Women earn less than men (Canadian Women’s Foundation. 2024)
  • Occupational segregation lowers pay
  • Bias impacts pay for women
Figure 3:
The Gender wage gap in 2018

Note. Data shown are for employees between the age of 25 and 54 [Infographic]. From Canada’s gender wage gap narrows: Women earn $4.13 less than men per hour - national | globalnews.ca. (2019). https://globalnews.ca/news/6001276/gender-wage-gap-women-canada/ ©Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2019.

Underrepresentation in Leadership

Figure 4:
Women in CEO and executive positions

Note. Numbers from Statistics Canada released in 2019 show 19.4 per cent of board of director positions are held by women in Canada [Photograph]. From Bennardo, M. (2019). Women hold less than 20. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/statistics-canada-women-corporate-boards-1.5125995 ©2024 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved.

  • Few women lead major companies. (Canadian Women’s Foundation. 2024)
  • Diverse leadership boosts profits.
  • Support women: mentor, sponsor, promote. (Canadian Women’s Foundation. 2024)

Unequal Division of Unpaid Labor

Figure 5:
It’s a Guy Thing

Note. Natalie Decker sits in her truck during practice for the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series World of Westgate Las Vegas 200 in Las Vegas Sept. 13, 2019 [Photograph]. From News, A. B. C. (n.d.). Female NASCAR drivers on the challenges in competing in the male-dominated sport. https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/female-nascar-drivers-challenges-competing-male-dominated-sport/story?id=82838424 © 2024 ABC News.

  • Unpaid labor burdens women. (Heintz et al., 2021)
  • “Second shift” hurts careers.
  • Shared responsibility is key. (Heintz et al., 2021)

Counter-Arguments

Figure 6:
Child Care in Canada

Note. children playing and learning together in a vibrant, structured environment [Photograph]. From Belderbos, H. (2024). Achieving affordable child care in canada. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/achieving-affordable-child-care-in-canada/179301/ © Adjacent Digital Politics Ltd.

  • Affordable childcare boosts economies.
  • Equality benefits businesses too.
  • Investing in families is crucial.

Solutions: Policy Changes & Cultural Shifts

Figure 8:
The fight for an equal voice

Note. Members of the Voice of Women, Women’s Liberation Movement, New Feminists and Young Socialists demonstrated at Queen’s Park in April 1970, asking support for a bill to ensure that women get equal pay for equal work.From Heritage Matters - Women’s rights are human rights The fight for an equal voice. (n.d.). https://www.heritage-matters.ca/articles/womens-rights-are-human-rights-the-fight-for-an-equal-voice © Ontario Heritage Trust, unless otherwise indicated.

  • Policies must support equality.
  • Change requires cultural shifts.
  • Challenge norms; dismantle bias.

The Future: A Collective Effort

  • Gender equality benefits everyone.
  • Challenge inequality; be an ally.
  • Collective action creates change.
Figure 9:
Gender equality

Note. Young people interested in creating a positive difference in the world [Photograph]. From International day of the girl. (n.d.). https://plancanada.ca/get-involved/active-campaigns/international-day-of-the-girl © 2024 Plan International Canada Inc. Because I am a Girl, and Spread the Net names and associated logos are trademarks of Plan International Canada Inc.

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References

Canadian Women’s Foundation. (2024). Equity at work : Cultivating career growth and inclusivity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePHEp7n-fzo
Lam, L., & Triandafyllidou, A. (2024). Road to nowhere or to somewhere? Migrant pathways in platform work in Canada. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(4), 1150–1169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X221090248
Pickel, L., & Sivachandran, N. (2024). Gender trends in Canadian medicine and surgery: the past 30 years. BMC Medical Education, 24(1), 100. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05071-4
Raj, A., Dey, A., Rao, N., Yore, J., McDougal, L., Bhan, N., Silverman, J. G., Hay, K., Thomas, E. E., Fotso, J. C., & Lundgren, R. (2024). The EMERGE framework to measure empowerment for health and development. Social Science & Medicine, 351, 116879. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116879
Belderbos, H. (2024). Achieving affordable child care in canada. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/achieving-affordable-child-care-in-canada/179301/
Intersectional Gender Wage Gap in Canada, 2007 to 2022. (2023). 11.
Government of Canada, S. C. (2023). Women in the labour market: Increased potential, pay, and participation. https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/4823-women-labour-market-increased-potential-pay-and-participation
Gourtsilidou, M. (2022). Top career barriers women face in technology sector. https://ceoworld.biz/2022/04/01/top-career-barriers-women-face-in-technology-sector/
Huang, S.-B., Jeng, Y.-L., & Lai, C.-F. (2021). Note-Taking Learning System: The Use of the Learning Style Theory and the Peer Learning Method on Computer Programming Course. Journal of Educational Computing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633120985235
Heintz, L., February 10, C. J., & 2021. (2021). From the ’50s until now, women still bear the brunt of unpaid household labour. https://calgaryjournal.ca/2021/02/10/from-the-50s-until-now-women-still-bear-the-brunt-of-unpaid-household-labour/
LowestRates. (2021). How can women regain the economic ground they’ve lost to the pandemic? https://www.lowestrates.ca/blog/finance/how-can-women-regain-economic-ground-lost-to-pandemic
Islam, S., & Safavi, M. (2020). Wage inequality, firm size and gender: The case of CANADA. Archives of Business Research, 8(2), 27–37. https://doi.org/10.14738/abr.82.7804
Bennardo, M. (2019). Women hold less than 20. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/statistics-canada-women-corporate-boards-1.5125995
Canada’s gender wage gap narrows: Women earn $4.13 less than men per hour - national | globalnews.ca. (2019). https://globalnews.ca/news/6001276/gender-wage-gap-women-canada/
Lipman, J. (2015). Opinion | let’s expose the gender pay gap. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/opinion/lets-expose-the-gender-pay-gap.html
Charters, D. A. (2006). It’s a guy thing: The experience of women in canadian sports car competition. Sport History Review, 37(2), 83–99. https://doi.org/10.1123/shr.37.2.83
Heritage Matters - Women’s rights are human rights The fight for an equal voice. (n.d.). https://www.heritage-matters.ca/articles/womens-rights-are-human-rights-the-fight-for-an-equal-voice
International day of the girl. (n.d.). https://plancanada.ca/get-involved/active-campaigns/international-day-of-the-girl
News, A. B. C. (n.d.). Female NASCAR drivers on the challenges in competing in the male-dominated sport. https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/female-nascar-drivers-challenges-competing-male-dominated-sport/story?id=82838424

Q&A